


Wicked Love

by NekoTiara



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Caring and loving, Comforting, Fluff, Fluff and Mush, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, M/M, Power Couple, Protective Bucky Barnes, Reverse Big Bang Challenge, SO MUCH FLUFF, Vampire Bucky Barnes, working together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 19:54:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18923959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoTiara/pseuds/NekoTiara
Summary: Life can be changed forever, but love will always find a way to change it back





	Wicked Love

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Mine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18923830) by [MassiveSpaceWren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MassiveSpaceWren/pseuds/MassiveSpaceWren). 



> I want to thank a lot of people, but I'm going to thank MassiveSpaceWren, without the beautiful masterpiece she made this story wouldn't be here. Thank you for your talent!
> 
> And I want to thank my beautiful beta, LadyUkkey, who puts up with me and my stupid mistakes and my anxiety and still loves me. Thank you, babe! I would have given up even before I tried.

 

 

**WICKED LOVE**

 

Waking up in a cold, so cold cell wasn’t what Bucky had expected. Was he shivering? He didn’t think so. The only reason he could tell it was cold was the condensation on the window on the small window that didn’t let Bucky see much outside the tiny cell. 

 

There wasn’t any light but it wasn’t needed. Bucky could see perfectly well even in this total darkness. He looked at the cockroaches creeping away and surprisingly enough, he heard the rat squeaking somewhere inside the walls. He hoped it was inside the walls. 

 

What the fuck was going on? 

 

He tried to move but his left arm was numb and yet it hurt at the same time, he couldn’t move it and then he remembered the train! His eyes wandered down and a scream stayed lodge in his petrified vocal folds when he was met with the vision of his left arm being replaced by a metal monstrosity. What had they done to him!? 

 

The brunet was shaken from his musings when he heard someone standing outside. Well, not someone, it was more like someone’s racing heart and shallow breathing. He stood still for a whole minute, lips half parted. What…? 

 

The door creaked and Bucky’s eyes darted upwards when his nose was attacked by the smell of something, something good? Were they bringing dinner? 

 

No, they weren't. The door opened to reveal a man wearing glasses and a lab coat with a clipboard. He looked to be the impatient type of man, that wanted everything done their way and as fast as humanly possible. 

 

“Soldat, glad to see you’re awake,” The door didn’t close behind the man whose heavy accent let Bucky know they weren’t in the States anymore, “We need to do some testing, but you seem in a good state of health, ready to go back to your conditioning.”

 

_ Conditioning? _ Bucky didn’t even register to move. All he knew was he was hungry and he wasn’t going to sit tight and let these assholes do whatever they wanted to him. No, he wanted whatever this man had on him that smelled so mouthwatering. Before he was aware of moving, Bucky was standing in front of this doctor, scientist, whatever and the brunet sniffed. What was that smell that had him salivating?

 

“Soldat, I recommend you take a step back…” The old man with a receding hairline was the one who took a step back when Bucky’s tongue darted out, “Soldat.”

 

“What smells so good?” When was the last time that he ate anything? Was it back at the camp? 

 

He pushed the man against the closest wall. There wasn’t much strength behind the movement but something happened, adrenaline probably? The wall cracked when the man’s head hit it and the guy slid down in a heap and didn’t get up while an increasing pool of blood appeared under his head.

 

Bucky’s vision faded. The body of James Buchanan Barnes moved without conscience or care and he was lapping at the still warm blood, not caring if it stained his face, his clothes, he needed more, more,  _ more _ . 

  
  


Next time Bucky was aware of what was going on around him, he wasn’t in the same room. The doctor wasn’t there either and there wasn’t any blood. He was hungry though, really, really hungry. He tried to move but the bonds keeping him in place were sturdier than they looked, and there was a glass panel between him and the rest of the world. It was also freezing or so he guessed because the glass was fogged. 

 

“I told you to not kill him!” Bucky’s eyes were drawn to the two figures on the other side, “We need him alive, idiot!” The voice snarled.

 

“Sir, he is not…” Bucky’s eyes were heavy and he tried to curl on himself and forget about those men yelling way too loud outside whatever prison he was in. Where was Steve? 

 

The third time he woke up, or had he woken up before? His mind was a whirlwind, memories that didn’t fit, feelings that made no sense and now he was surrounded by white coats that spoke too fast and used too many technical terms for him to follow. 

 

Underneath it all, the hunger was a constant pain. That was the only thing that made sense anymore. He was hungry, hungrier than he had ever been. His throat was parched and his senses were overloaded with information that made no sense. The noises, the smells, even the tact of leather on his wrist, waist, and legs, it was all too much for him… 

 

Above everything else, he was tired though. Yet, he couldn’t give in to the need to rest. Something was off, he didn’t know how he knew it but he did. He closed his eyes, holding onto his consciousness with all he had because something in the back of his mind was screaming at him to stay awake. 

 

Then it happened. He was unstrapped and someone was leading him through long corridors that smelled wrong yet at the same time like they were filled with mouth-watering food. Hell, even the idiots that were taking him back to wherever they were keeping him smelled too good. All noise disappeared except for a constant thump-thump-thump. Bucky tensed, something grazed the inside of his mouth and he knew without a doubt that his teeth were longer than they had been and what had these goons done to him!? 

 

He let his hindbrain take over. He was thinking of punching and kicking, making a run for it as soon as these two muscle-heads went down. He gave in to what he was thinking, like muscle memory, his body reacted without prompt, he was surprised when he slammed the soldier to his left into the wall, then turned to the other and took him by the throat. His eyes focused, on his right hand, fingers digging in the man’s throat. He had never had long nails… Just how long had he been held, prisoner?

 

It didn’t matter. He couldn’t focus on anything but getting the hell out of wherever he was. He tightened the hold on the man’s neck, he hadn’t taken into account that his nails might cut through flesh and muscles as if it were butter and his hand was covered in blood. It all went dark afterward. 

  
  


When he was brought back to himself, he was drenched in blood and he was standing in the middle of nowhere, a building in front of him, what looked like a military base engulfed in fire. It was night, the wind was blowing strong enough that Bucky should be shivering but he wasn’t feeling it. He didn’t feel anything. He looked down to himself, there were a few cuts and bullet holes healing already, the hunger was gone and his mouth felt thick and tasted metallic, coppery. God, what had they done to him? 

  
  


Afterward, the American soldier hadn’t known where to go to. After the fire had died down he had walked for what seemed like hours, the sun started peeking over the horizon. He had reached what looked like abandoned farms but it wasn’t enough distance covered, he had to get to the closest city to find a military post, find Steve. 

 

The soldier hadn’t expected the searing pain of burning when the sunlight reached his uncovered neck and face. He tried to cover himself but the shirt he had on didn’t cover his wrists completely and he fell onto the floor, trying to curl up on himself until he noticed the pain wasn’t subsiding and he crawled, thankful that one of the cabins he’d spotted wasn’t that far away or locked and he curled on the corner where no light could touch him. 

  
  


He must have fallen asleep because when he came back to his senses, the Sun was high in the sky. Bucky wasn’t in pain anymore and he gulped air like a starving man. Once again, what had those monsters done to him? He moved slowly, nearing his flesh hand to a stream of sunlight. His mind had already worked on the information he had so far and this was the final test. 

 

As he neared the sunlight, his mind went over his last few times of awareness. Nothing made sense, he had been hungry, so, so hungry he had never felt like that, his left arm was made of metal, that one did make sense given that he had fallen from a moving train before he had woken up, wherever he had been held, and he had attacked people and drank their blood, or he thought he had drunk their blood. 

 

His hand was inches away from the light, the heat was there but no pain and then he pushed forward and the same searing pain from earlier filled him. He stammered back and cradled his injured hand against his chest. When it subdued, he looked down. The skin of his hand was burnt, red and swollen. At the same time though, he could see how the skin was knitting until there wasn’t a trace of the burn.

 

He sighed and laid down on his side. So, he couldn’t let the light touch him unless he wanted to be burnt.  Was he? No, he couldn’t be? His brows furrowed together tightly, he was getting hungry again… He closed his eyes and tried to calm his ragged breathing, he needed to find help, he needed to find Steve so they would go back to punching Nazis and win this war. He smiled, hopefully, the little punk hadn’t done anything stupid while Bucky was held captive by those HYDRA assholes,  _ yeah _ , he had recognized the uniform. Fuckers.

 

It was the idea of meeting Steve again that got him moving. He waited for the night and walked as much as he could, keeping away from people or houses, he hid away in another barn, when the first rays of sun broke the horizon and slept again. He hunted well tried, his body just seemed to know how, and ate raw meat the first time, it was disgusting then he stuck to drinking blood from any farm animal he could get his hands on, which seemed to be the only substance his body seemed to need. During the long nights, that soon turned into weeks, he got used to his new lifestyle and he was left to think on how much he had changed since he fell from that train, and he wasn’t talking about his metal arm.

 

If there was one thing Bucky wasn’t, it was an idiot, his ma hadn’t raised an idiot for a son. He had read a lot, in and out of school, and he knew what he was, what he had been turned into. So, his mission changed as the realization hit him: he was going to find Steve whose friends could help him, they had helped his best friend, they had turned him into some sort of superhuman, so vampirism would be a walk in the park for them. 

 

He hadn’t expected though, that once he got back into civilization, ten years had gone by, that war had ended a long time ago and the world had moved on. Europe was a disaster still, but it was healing and the Americans had gone back home. He stayed for months - acclimating to the new world but also trying to find a way to the United States - going from small village to small village until he reached France and from there, he got a plane ticket to New York. 

 

He wasn’t proud of how he got the plane ticket but a man had to eat!

 

The four stops made on the flight made Bucky’s life hell and when he found himself in Gander, Canada, he thought of just leaving the airport and making the rest of the trip like he had done back in Europe. However, it was just one flight and he wasn’t going to be able to leave the airport. The Sun was still out and he had done unspeakable things to get this far, he wasn’t going to be able to live with that if he gave up now. At least he wasn’t hungry anymore. 

 

And then he arrived in New York. 

Europe might have been a mess. But New York hadn’t changed that much. He walked around, his eyes sizing the new buildings, looking for old faces, listening to the music from the bars that were still open and then he found a newspaper. He read it avidly, absorbing new information, developments… No mention of Captain America, nothing on Peggy Carter or the Howling Commandos… Fuck! How the hell was he supposed to find his friends! He clenched his fists, the muscles of his jaw twitching from how tense he was. 

Then it hit him. Bucky fished in his pocket, he could make a call. He needed a phone directory first. He wandered the city, he needed to find so much information but time waited for no man and the sun was going to find him on the street. The Sergeant didn’t want to kill anyone else or hurt them. 

 

In the end, he found a house that was empty, its owners probably were on holiday. He spent the day looking for Rogers, Steve. He came up empty-handed. Would Stark pick up the phone and tell him where the goddamn punk was? Then he found a name, Carter, Margaret. Steve’s love interest. Trust Steve to fall in love with someone with more guts than any man Bucky had ever met.

It took him two days to get a hold of Ms. Carter and another day to get her to believe it wasn’t a joke. Half a day to get from the suburbia to her new house. She had aged, the lines in her face were severe but her eyes shone with unshed tears when she saw him. 

“Sergeant Barnes, you haven’t aged a day…”

 

...Twenty-odd years later...

Bucky found himself in a routine. He worked as best he could for his friend and well he couldn’t do much more, his life was being a soldier. Until...

“You should have stayed back home, Soldat.” A man was holding a gun to his head.

Peggy found him with the man’s body at his feet. “I thought you said you could control yourself, Barnes!” She looked from side to side with a scandalized look, like she hadn’t been feeding him from time to time. 

“Yes, but I didn’t say anything about rats, and guess what, Carter, it seems you have a rat problem,” he dragged the man to an empty office and tossed it to the side, he would dispose of it later. “He called me Soldat, put a gun to my head, wanna guess who used to call me ‘Soldat’? HYDRA.”

“That’s impossible, HYDRA is gone! We made sure of it years ago, Barnes!” And that was the thing, wasn’t it? They had ended HYDRA, hadn’t they? “Unless…”

“Their scientists were brought here! and you know how impressionable people can be!” How easy it is to make someone switch sides, they both had seen how a man had convinced a country to hate their neighbors and friends and family just because they were Jewish, or weak, or dumb or of a different colour or even if you didn’t look the part, “So tell me, can you assure that this one was the last one?” 

 

SHIELD had been compromised, and from that night on Bucky had an objective in mind. He left Carter’s house that night. He traveled, asked around, hunted down his demons and it was alright. 

But no matter how many years passed, he kept an eye on his friends. SHIELD was a mortal trap, yet Peggy was a good woman, a loyal friend, Stark was building a better future for his son, a cute little thing too bright for his own good… they deserved to live in a world where HYDRA had no place. As more time passed Bucky learned that Stark had been killed, and not in a car accident like the media claimed, but in an assassination. The killer had been like Steve. Or at least a bastardized version of Steve. He had tasted awful. 

But he had just killed the weapon, not the person who had orchestrated the whole thing. It was hard though, HYDRA had people everywhere.  That was how they found him. The missing Winter Soldier. The only weapon that had escaped from them. The weapon that was killing them one by one. The weapon whose head had now a price. The Winter Soldier was nothing more than a ghost, a story that people told in hushed whispers. 

And finally, as trails grew cold and people forgot about him, Bucky Barnes went back to pay his respect to the Stark boy. Luckily, the man wasn’t hard to find. Tony Stark had made a name for himself, had been kidnapped, been saved...  

Bucky found his home and visited late at night. When he got there at a party was just starting. People were drinking and dancing and doing… It was better if Bucky stopped looking too closely. 

Tony Stark was easy to find surrounded by models... If Bucky had been anyone else, he might have dismissed how tired he looked, how utterly fed up with the charade. He closed the distance between them and waited to be acknowledged. It didn’t take long. 

“Who are you?” Tony’s tone was dismissive, Bucky might he might have stopped there if he had been anyone else, but he wasn’t just anyone and he could see how Tony’s pulse quickened and his pupils grew, “I think, I should remember inviting a treat like you.”

“You didn’t invite me,” he started and admired the long neck stretched in front of him as the young Stark barked out a laugh, “I’m glad you like what you see, though.”

“I like it very much. Ladies, if you excuse us,” Tony put a hand in Bucky’s flesh arm and squeezed with a lecherous smile that was as fake as fool gold, “I need to get a drink for this fine specimen.” 

Bucky let himself being dragged from the main party to the bar by the pool. The breeze was warm and the soldier was going to blame it all in the wind when his nose was filled with the most exquisite scent he had ever smelt when not hungry. The taller brunet felt the sudden urge to bury his face in the crook of Tony’s neck, take a deep breath there and then sink his fangs in that swan-like neck and fill himself with what promised to be a mouthwatering treat.

“So, what company sent you? Because I need to start hiring from you people,if everyone looks as dreamy as you do,” The smile was less strained away from the party, but there was still a tremor there, “Though, I don’t remember hiring male models for tonight…”

“I’m not a model, or hired,” How sad could one’s life be if they needed to hire people for parties? “And I’m not here for the party, I was…”

How could he say what he wanted to say, without sounding like a crazy person? But he was obviously going too slow, and Tony was getting impatient, just like his father, “A party crasher? Doesn’t matter, you think I actually invited all these people?” Tony’s whiskey-colored eyes turned sad for a second, his shoulder slightly hunched but he recovered fast, he was used to it apparently, “I won’t get mad if you keep me company for a while.” 

That was his chance, “Then maybe we could look for someplace more… private?” The billionaire turned with wide eyes and quirked eyebrow. If Bucky could blush, he would have, instead, he gave his most smoldering smile and decided to play the game until he got the younger man alone, “If you want, that is...”

“I like you, let’s grab something to drink and we can be on our merry way,” Tony entwined their fingers and dragged him across the huge mansion.

Bucky was well aware that he should have paid more attention when he entered the mansion. He should have looked for exit routes, for how many people had taken pictures of him, how many people had seen him leaving with Stark, but as he stared at Tony’s back with his calloused hand in his own flesh hand and the mirth in those brown eyes, the soldier didn’t focus on anything else. That would be fixed later on, he promised to himself. 

Soon enough he found himself being pushed inside an empty room. It was dark, not that it was an issue to Bucky, and spacious. The bed was big enough to fit four people easily, with two nightstands on both sides. To the left of the bed and the sofa, there was a door partly opened, a bathroom big enough to fit Bucky’s old apartment! Behind the sofa, there was a door to what looked like a balcony. To the right a huge door, Bucky had seen enough of those to know it led to a walk-in closet. It was highly opulent but cold, impersonal. 

“So, top or bottom? You look like a hard top, but I’ve learned to never judge a book by its cover,” Tony’s question brought him back to the moment and he turned to the man unzipping his jeans. A heat that Bucky hadn’t felt in a very long time uncoiled in his stomach and a lump formed in his throat, “Well?” Tony was looking at him expectantly.

“Why don’t we talk before we decide to get naked?” Maybe it had been a terrible idea, maybe he should have kept his distance and send an e-mail or a text message even. 

“Uhh, you’re into some sort of kinky kink and we need to discuss it beforehand? Because whatever it is, I’m in,” Bucky moved then, when Tony was ready to take off his underwear.

“No, no… that’s…” He took a deep breath, big mistake, in a clean room without people, Tony’s smell was even more delicious, why? “I’m not a model or a party crasher, I… I’m an old friend of your dad’s.”

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. Tony shook himself free and moved away like he had been burnt and his face was closed off, a complete opposite of how he had been up until now. 

“Who are you?” Bucky was faster since he had been turned by HYDRA into a vampire, yeah, he had enough years to get used to the fucked up idea of being a vampire! That was the only way he could cut Tony from getting out of the room, Tony’s eyes were panicked, “Who sent you!?”

“Nobody, nobody sent me, I promise,” if only he had gotten the cool powers vampires got in literature… “I needed to talk to you, pay my respects and everything.”

“Ha! Yeah, you’re not my father’s friend! No friend of my father would say that after so long! Who are you!?” Tony’s pulse was high rocketing now, sweat was pooling in his brow and his eyes darted from one side to the other. 

“It’s going to be hard to believe, trust me, I needed years to believe it myself… I’m Bucky, James… Not that it matters, but I knew your father, I used to work with him and Ms. Carter for SHIELD?”

What if Tony didn’t know a thing about SHIELD? Fuck, Bucky shouldn’t have stayed away for so long. He only had a chance to convince this man that he meant no harm that he had come to tell him that he had killed his parents’ murderer, “You knew Aunt Peggy? Your name is Bucky? As in Sergeant James Barnes?” 

Yes! He knew the kid was fucking bright! He smiled and Tony’s eyes zeroed in his teeth before the smaller brunet took a step back looking like a deer in the headlights, “Yes, I’m Bucky, Bucky Barnes!” He couldn’t lose the man now! “But that isn’t important, I’m here because…” 

How did someone break that kind of news!? Tony parted his lips with a frown ready to go back to being defensive, so Bucky took the  “Look, I’ll leave as soon as I tell you this if you want but, your parents didn’t die in a car accident, they were murdered. By the same people that did this to me. I saw the reports and the video explaining it and…” Bucky rushed over his words but suddenly Tony’s whole demeanor had changed as he spoke. His muscles locked, his face was a mask of rage and his knuckles were white with how hard he had his hands fisted, “I killed them, or I tried to, and I know that some slipped through the cracks and I promise I will find them all…”

“Let me help you then,” Tony’s voice was clipped as if he had to force the words out, “If what you say is true, and I’m not saying it is, let me help you.”

“No, Tony, it’s dangerous,” Bucky couldn’t mention the price on his head or that HYDRA might have people even in Stark Industries, he could only think of protecting this boy, Starks boy... “You can’t help me, nobody can.” 

“Listen, buddy,” the mechanic was back to being threatening, or some version of threatening, Bucky had to suppress a smile at that, “Either I help you or I do it on my own, don’t think I won’t!”

This time, it was impossible not to smile at that, and yet the vision of Tony saying that was also a knife being twisted in his guts for just how much he reminded him of the old Stevie, the one that would pick fights and never ran, even when he was sized and outnumbered. It didn’t hurt so much to think of his old pal, but still, he hadn’t been able to protect Steve in the end, but he was going to protect this tiny human being. 

“And how do you plan to do it by yourself? By throwing a party? Yeah, you’re well-known for your parties but these people aren’t as nice as the ones that you got downstairs,” Hell if Bucky’s pants didn’t tighten at the sight of a blush creeping up Tony’s neck and face. No, he needed to focus. “So, don’t get into trouble, kid, you’ve got a life, live it.”  

“If you don’t let me help you,” Tony took a step forward in what was supposed to be threatening, “I’ll go to the press, release your picture, say that I’m looking for you and just have whoever killed my father come to me instead.”

Bucky growled twisting around on the spot in frustration, the boy wasn’t going to let it go, was he? Damn it, Stark! Only your kid would be so goddamn stubborn, “Fine,” he spat out.

He watched as Tony’s face lit up, and if that didn’t do things to his insides, what had he let himself in for?

After agreeing that they were going to work together, more like Tony kind of blackmailing Bucky into accepting. It was Tony’s idea that Bucky moved in with him. Bucky was reluctant, but the genius saw right through every excuse Bucky could think of until the soldier agreed that it was for the better, “Imagine if your enemies followed you here and as soon as you leave they attack me! I’d be defenseless!” 

Bucky frowned, the man was lying, what about? He didn’t know but whatever it was, he had higher chances of finding it out here than in some apartment building in New York. “Alright,” there was also the clenching of his gut at the idea of Tony being attacked because of him, because of anyone, “But there are some things you need to know first…”

 

“Where to now, J!?” Bucky screamed as he drove across New York. He was lucky he had been gifted a motorcycle, “And how far are we!?”

“Sir is three minutes from here according to the coordinates provided by his panic button, Sergeant,” the AI answered, “Take the second left and keep going straight on, Sir will be on your left.” 

The rear wheel skidded and only Bucky’s heightened reflexes kept him from falling as he took the curve and he sped up even more. He knew he was overreacting but it was to be expected as he had been woken up half an hour before the sun had completely set with a blaring alarm and Jarvis confirming it came from Tony’s panic button. 

“I see him!” The man was curled between two buildings, his hands holding his chest, he could hear over the wind how quick the mechanic’s heart was beating and how ragged his breath was too fast, too shallow. He skidded to a stop in front of the trembling figure and jumped from the bike to kneel by Tony’s side. 

“Tony!” He didn’t smell blood but the man was drenched in the scent of cheap perfume and avoiding Bucky’s eyes, “Tony, what happened!?” 

He knew he shouldn’t touch him, that it might be too much, but the longer Tony remained unresponsive, the more anxious Bucky got, so he put an arm around the younger man’s shoulders and pulled him close, “Please Tony, say something,  sweetheart…”

“H-he wanted to take my shirt off, I-I told him no…” Bucky took a deep breath, remaining as still as possible, “He k-kept trying to take it off but-but I don’t like it…” 

“It’s ok, baby doll, he won’t do anything to you,” No matter who ‘he’ was, Bucky wasn’t going to let any danger come Tony’s way, “I’m here now, you’re safe.” 

When the trembling subsided and the smaller man’s breathing was normal again, Tony’s eyes darted upward. Bucky’s heart clenched at how young he looked, how scared he still looked, and then, in the smallest whisper, Tony asked, “Take me home?”  

“Of course, doll, come on,” Bucky picked Tony up bridal style and took him to the bike he sat him down and slipped in front of him. 

Without prompting, Tony put his arms around Bucky’s waist leaning his head into the comforting body in front of him and holding on tight, “That’s a good boy, let’s get you home.”

He was more careful getting back to Tony’s home, he supposed it was now his home too, and since when had the boy gotten such a hold over him? When had he started to see this broken, selfless man as his home? Not that it mattered, he knew that Tony was way out of his league and that whatever caused the warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest was unrequited and thus were to remain a secret. 

They got to their home and after parking the bike, Bucky picked Tony up again in a bridal style, smiling the vampire really was strong. The walk to the mechanic’s bedroom was made in silence, the smaller man had buried his face in the crook of Bucky’s neck, taking deeper and deeper breaths. The warmth was something Bucky had almost forgotten after so many years of feeling nothing like the embrace of a lover, it was doing things to him and it pained him when he left the genius in the middle of the bed and proceeded to undress him, being mindful of not taking off the shirt. 

Then he turned to leave once Tony was settled under the blankets, but a hand wrapped around his metal wrist and pulled him back, “Wait!” Tony had sat and was looking at him with desperation in his brown eyes, “Can… can you stay with me tonight?”

All his instincts were telling Bucky to leave and yet he moved to join Tony in bed without a word, though he stayed over the blankets and keeping the distance. Not that the human wanted that if the shuffling closer was any indication. Bucky tensed when he felt the same warm breath against his chest. 

“I’m sorry you have to see me like that,” Tony whispered so low it should have gone unheard, “I thought I could… I dunno, go back to being, to being the person everyone knows me to be?”

Bucky closed his eyes, did he want to have this conversation? “And some idiot decided to not respect your boundaries,” apparently he did. That or he was a masochist.

Tony shook his head, “I was an idiot, everything was going great but then came the time to get down to it and I… I freaked out, I guess.”

Tony had the arc reactor in his chest, he was very sensitive about it and never let anyone close to it, it was high-grade tech, not even the doctors were allowed to see it after the initial check-up. Bucky knew it because he had picked Tony up one time when he was too drunk to get back to his own room. 

_ “You’re so pretty… it’s unfair,” he had mumbled as he was half carried, half dragged through long corridors, “I used to be pretty too, then I got these scars and they are ugly.” _

_ Bucky had been impressed to how not drunk Tony sounded, even when he was quite clearly lathered, “You’re still pretty,” it had been the only thing that came to his mind.  _

_ “No, no, no… You’re pretty, I’m scarred but I don’t let people see it, and that arm... I almost want to meet whoever engineered it because damn, it’s  _ **_thick_ ** _!” he had giggled like a child and then started whispering like someone was going to hear him, “I wonder if you are thick everywhere, don’t tell Bucky though.”  _

The memory got him smiling and when he turned to tell Tony why he was smiling he found himself with the mechanic sleeping holding tight onto Bucky’s t-shirt, “Yeah, you’re not pretty, doll,” he whispered knowing that nobody would hear him as he admired the long lashes, the high cheekbones, the swan-like neck, “You’re beautiful, scars or no, you’re more beautiful than anyone I’ve ever met, the strongest too.”

 

Bucky was going down the workshop with a mission in mind. It had been two days since he had last seen Tony, and the mechanic had promised, after one too many arguments, that he was going to start taking better care of himself. Which meant three meals a day and eight hours of sleep with drinking plenty of water and less alcohol. That had been the conditions set for Bucky to feed on him. 

He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard JARVIS speaking, not that it was rare but the AI seemed like, he was whispering? Could an AI even whisper?

“Sir, I feel like this is a little more than research,” Not only whispering, JARVIS sounded annoyed at his creator. 

The man himself wasn’t so careful with the volume of his voice as he answered, “Finding out his sexual preference is vital, J!”

JARVIS sighed? as if giving up, “ _ Really, _ Sir, I do not believe that Sergeant Barnes’ sexual orientation is going to give you any insight into his specific genetic mutation.” 

This made Bucky smile, what was Tony up to… He leaned against the doorframe, hip jutting out,  "I think the term used is bisexual, Tony," he swaggered into the workshop with a smirk on his face, "Though I must agree with Jarvis, it has nothing to do with why I am a vampire."

Tony jumped at the sudden interruption, his face getting more and more flushed with each step Bucky took in his direction. They had been living together for months now and yet this was the first time that Tony got a peek at the James Barnes the history books talked about, the charmer and it was getting to him. 

Bucky didn’t stop until they were almost chest to chest, then he leaned forward, the height difference disappearing as their lips grew closer. The billionaire found himself licking his own lips in anticipation, the beating of his heart getting louder and louder as the soldier’s smirk grew, “But I know something that can help us if you’re interested.”

Tony had to swallow since his throat was parched, “What?”

Bucky moved so fast it was a miracle that Tony didn’t get whiplash from the sudden change of scenery since he found himself in the kitchen with a laughing vampire whose hands were tight around his waist, “You keeping your promise of taking care of yourself, sweetheart,” Tony pouted and the blush increased at the term of endearment. “Come on, I’ll fix you something.”

Since the incident a few weeks into their cohabitation, Bucky had gotten more and more like the man his father used to talk about. He had even started calling Tony things like ‘sweetheart’, ‘babe’ or ‘doll’. ‘Doll’ was Tony’s personal favorite, especially since it was only used when Bucky was having a good day or night. 

With a sigh and getting his StarkPad out of one of the kitchen’s cabinet, Tony sat down to wait for whatever Bucky was going to cook for him. Not that he was going to get much done. Lately, his mind had taken a liking to wander to everything that had happened since they had joined forces to destroy not only HYDRA but also the Ten Rings. Sometimes he wished his mind would focus on their mission and not… not the less hero-related part of their relationship. 

When did he fall in love with Bucky? He didn’t know but it was undeniable, he watched the vampire move around his kitchen,  _ their _ kitchen, as he cooked and hummed under his breath. The domesticity of it all hit him and almost knocked the air out of him. Tony Stark had never felt like this before and… and he should be scared shitless but truth be told, he wasn’t. 

“You’re biting your lip,” He was shaken out of his thoughts by a smiling soldier and before he knew what happened, his mouth filled with the coppery taste of blood, “Look what you did, babe…” 

It wasn’t conscious. Bucky thumbed at his bottom lip and Tony’s tongue darted out to lick at the small drop of blood when the vampire stilled for a second. Grey was swallowed by black, “You said that you wouldn’t feed off me unless I was taki-” Whatever he was going to say was left unsaid when Tony found himself cornered against the kitchen counter by a vampire. 

Bucky lapped at the small cut in Tony’s bottom lip before crashing their lips together. Tony parted his lips further and a tongue was pressed inside, a tantalizing dance followed, not hurried, not pressing, not dominating, just playful, that Tony dared blame on mutual attraction. They shifted closer together, impossible as it seemed, his right hand snaked around Bucky’s trim waist, the other one came up to tangle itself in Bucky’s hair. A flesh hand cupped his face and the angle of the kiss was changed slightly, the other one was digging carefully in his hip. 

They parted ways too soon for Tony’s tastes and he gulped down air before closing the distance between their mouths again. More, he needed more. If this was everything he was going to get, he was planning on getting as much as possible. 

Bucky couldn’t find it in himself to stop this. Whatever it was. He delved deeper into Tony’s mouth, their bodies so close together it was impossible to know where one ended and the other began. He pushed a leg between Tony’s and moved it slightly up and down, too afraid of breaking the spell that had come over them. He could only think of needing more. 

They moved as one from the kitchen, toward the living room. They parted again when Tony fell onto the sofa and Bucky followed him, blanketing him with his body, keeping the human from being crushed by his weight and supporting himself on his forearms. And thank God Tony had decided to go with a huge ass sofa. 

Tony’s breath was coming too fast, but Bucky couldn’t focus on that when Tony’s eyes were black and filled with desire, “Tell me to stop,” he begged, knowing he wasn’t going to find the willpower to back off now, “Tell me you don’t want this, doll.”

Tony jerked his hips upward, their groins rubbing together, “Do I look like I want you to stop?” He moaned and his hands fisted Bucky’s shirt and pushed it up, “No, I don’t want you to stop.”

Bucky found he couldn’t, he didn’t want to stop either. And he knew it was because he was in love with this man and not for a second it crossed his mind that Tony had a record of one-night stands. No, all he could think of was that Tony tasted like heaven, and he had been feeding of the man for long enough to know what this wasn’t about the blood. He dived down and kissed the mechanic once again. Yes, heaven had to taste like Tony, that was for sure and the vampire was conscious that he was going to end up being addicted to it. 

How was he supposed to come back from this? Honestly, he didn’t want to. He hoped Tony didn’t want to either.

 

In the end it hadn’t been a one-night stand, but Bucky didn’t know how to label their current relationship. Tony had come undone under him, he had moaned his name and taken everything Bucky had to offer and demanded more. They had come together as Bucky had sunk his fangs in Tony’s neck and whatever had kept them apart had fallen apart. 

More times than not they had found themselves tangled together, too desperate, too slow, too silently, even laughing. And yet, neither of them had had the courage to speak about what was going on underneath. Bucky knew his own reasons, they had kept him awake even after the Sun had come up in more than one occasion. 

Tony was too precious. The human deserved someone better, someone he could take out, someone who could hold his hand under the light, walk by his side but also someone who could protect him from whatever dangers lurked outside without restrictions. The soldier knew it wasn’t meant to be him and yet, he was too selfish to let the genius go, too desperate for whatever he could get from the human to not seek him out when night fell. But too scared to stay the night, to go to sleep when whiskey eyes looking at him at his most vulnerable. 

If only he were braver…

 

 

Bucky got up from his bed when he heard the clinking of glass for the third time in less than fifteen minutes. At four in the morning nobody should be awake, well, except him but he was a special case. Tony had offered to make the whole place sunlight proof but it seemed too cruel to keep a human away from the Sun when they didn’t have to. Tony had laughed and answered that he barely got any Sun either way as he worked better during the night. Or lived during the night. 

But that had been before Bucky started feeding from him almost four months ago. Now, the man was supposed to be sleeping his eight hours and he had gotten to bed less than two hours ago. ‘ _ I need to finish this before six in the morning, Bucky, I can’t go to sleep just yet,’ _ the mechanic had groaned when Bucky started pestering him, ‘ _ You can punish me later if you want, now let me get back to work or you’ll deal with Pepper!’ _

Pepper Potts was a frightening woman and she wore dagger stilettos, something that could hurt very much when used properly. Bucky was a hundred percent sure if anyone could use those as a weapon was Pepper. So he had let Tony finish and had steered the man into bed, he had even snuggled him up before going to his own bedroom just down the corridor. 

Thus, since Tony was supposed to be in bed and nobody else was allowed in the house without Bucky being notified previously for security reasons, the noise had the vampire in high alert. He stalked the corridors looking around every corner as he followed the noise to the living room where he found…

“Tony?” The mechanic was sitting on the kitchen with a tumbler of scotch, “I thought you were sleeping, what are you doing here?”

Tony finished his drink and started pouring another one, he was almost curling on himself though when he answered, “I woke up, knew I couldn’t go back to sleep and came here…” His eyes were glazed over, as if he were here but his mind was thousands of miles away, “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

Bucky took the glass from him and held the human’s chin between his fingers to make him look up, “You should know by now that there is little that can scare me,” Not a total lie, “What woke you up, darling?”

Tony averted his eyes and for a moment Bucky thought the mechanic was going to start crying before a sigh left his lips, and God, this wasn’t the time to be focusing on that, “Do you ever get nightmares?” Bucky opened his mouth to answer, of course, he got nightmares, just like everyone else, “Not exactly nightmares, more like memories, of the war, or HYDRA… Steve.”

Oh,  _ oh _ …his memories were nightmares, Alright, “Of course. Something I wake up feeling like I’m still falling from that train, or that this, you are a fragment of my imagination and I’m still being held prisoner in some HYDRA facility,” he had found years ago what HYDRA had been planning on doing with him and he had been scared. But Tony’s nightmares weren’t about that, “Afghanistan?” 

Instead of answering, Tony nodded and Bucky hugged the tiny man, held him against his chest as if that were to fix everything, as if by keeping him in his arms, Bucky could protect this human from every little danger of the world. 

“I know it’s stupid, that we killed them and those who got away are in prison or being hunted by SHIELD or whoever can, that they can’t come back so easily,” It wasn’t stupid, Bucky was ready to tell him so, but Tony wasn’t done, “but sometimes I can’t get my brain to get it, sometimes I’m back in the cave and Yinsen isn’t there to save me, to help me and I die, being tortured or more people die because I keep making weapons for terrorists.”

If it were up to Bucky, he would take Tony’s nightmares away without hesitation. He squeezed the mechanic tighter, being mindful of his own strength, “I wish I could say that the nightmares will one day go away, doll,” he whispered sorrowfully, “But they don’t, you learn to live with them, I guess.”

Silence set between them and when Bucky was ready to let Tony go, the human spoke, “You keep them at bay,” the admission made the vampire tense up, “When I fall asleep with you, I don’t have nightmares, but when you’re not there… I wake up looking for you, but you’re not there and I don’t want to bother you with this.”

“You won’t bother me, I… I wouldn’t mind if you came to me and I wouldn’t mind staying with you at night if you ask me to,” and it was slightly selfish of him too, because, it meant that he was able to be with Tony. 

Tony turned to him with a shaky smile, “Then stay with me and don’t leave, I’ll prepare the bedroom so no light can hurt you,” The younger man moved to stand between Bucky’s legs but kept the soldier’s arm around him, “Because I need you, Bucky, I need you more than you will ever know.”

And if there wasn’t a hidden meaning there, Bucky should go looking for a shrink, so he took a leap of faith and holding Tony tight, he kissed the mechanic as softly, as lovingly as it was humanly possible, “You don’t need me, you need no one, Tony,” he just wished Tony didn’t hate him after this, otherwise, Bucky wouldn’t know what to do, “But I’m a selfish bastard and I want you to need me, because, because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side.” 

Tony closed his eyes and let out a whine, “You love me?” At Bucky’s nod, the mechanic laughed and it was just like the first time they had met but without the social pressure he had been under, “I love you too, idiot, would that make me a selfish bastard too?”

Bucky chuckled, “There is not a single selfish bone in your tiny body, doll,” They laughed together and Tony caressed Bucky’s cheeks before kissing him and Bucky felt like everything was right in the world.  

  

The moon was high in the sky, its light streaming into the bedroom casting long shadows. A man lost in thought was standing in front of floor-to-ceiling windows, his left arm shining slightly. The body on the bed shifted and the sheet revealed a naked chest that shone on its own. With a hand, the man looked for his partner but the bed was empty and whiskey-colored eyes searched around. 

“Bucky?” The man standing turned at the sleepy voice and crossed the distance between the windows and the bed, “I thought we agreed you’d stay in bed if I slept.”

“Sorry, doll,” the bed dipped under his weight and he let the smaller man cuddle against him, “I was thinking and didn’t want to wake you up.”

Tony hummed and laid his head on Bucky’s chest, “About Steve?”

They had found out that Captain America had been woken up by SHIELD, Jarvis was still monitoring the agency files on super soldiers. “I can’t help but think that we should bring him home, he must be feeling so lonely and lost.” 

Tony placed a kiss where Bucky’s heart should have been beating and nosed the line between flesh and metal, “You also said that you didn’t want to add on his confusion with your… less than ordinary condition.”

“I know…” Bucky turned and tossed an arm around Tony’s waist, pulling him over and kissing the unruly mop of curls, “And I know that our mission will help keep him safe, I wish nothing more than to get the last of HYDRA so he can live the life he deserves. I just,”

“Miss him a lot?” Tony was looking at him with mirth in his eyes, “You can work on the whole ‘let’s get rid of HYDRA’ and still have your pal here, it’s not like he needs to know where you disappear to. And I will support you no matter what.”

Bucky let out a throaty laugh, “He will know, he is not as dumb as one might think.” But it felt extremely good to know that no matter what he decided, Tony was going to have his back, “I love you so much sometimes I feel my heart beating again.” 

This time it was Tony’s turn to laugh, “You’re a sap, Sergeant! It’s alright though, cause you’re my sap.” And they kissed with only the moon as their witness.


End file.
